6un6silent6 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I recently went from 600mg/day to 900mg to help stabilize my moods (300am/600pm). I've noticed that when I take the morning dose for a few hours I'm a bit nauseous. Not to the point of vomiting or becoming ill but almost like acid-reflux. I'm drinking about 10 16oz bottles of water/day, trying to keep my salt at a normal level and such, and my blood draw last week was .6 (5pm draw, Pdoc thinks I'm at .8). No other odd symptoms minus the very minor hand tremor that I've had since I started Lithium last year. Doctor doesn't feel I'm near toxicity but wants me to monitor the GI issues. Has anyone experienced this acid-reflux/nauseous feeling and what have they done to curtail it? It's tolerable and not getting in the way of eating/functioning but it is annoying. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6un6silent6 Posted July 3, 2010 Author Share Posted July 3, 2010 take it with a meal, or at least a glass of milk if you're not already doing so. you're describing a very common side effect. there are other preparations of lithium (like Eskalith) that may help with that as well. It's not a sign of toxicity normally. I tend to take it upon waking without about 8oz of water then head to Starbucks for a half-caf coffee and a pastry. I guess I'll try taking it with some form or food/milk immediately in the morning. At night I don't really notice it because I'm asleep, just figured I'd get some feedback from long-term users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfolks0428 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hey there, I dealt with the same thing, and Di is definitely right about taking it with a meal/ glass of milk. Make sure that you actually eat enough food with it though because I used to have just a snack with my lithium rather than a full meal, and I was still having stomach problems. But now that I take it with a meal, it's no problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarn Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I will third the meal/milk. Not on lithium anymore but worked great when I was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6un6silent6 Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 I will third the meal/milk. Not on lithium anymore but worked great when I was. I'll definitely try that. The last few days I've noticed an off/on acid-reflux/nausea feeling and that's a serum level result of .6. I am not showing any other signs of toxicity and am slamming water down but this just won't go away. Just took my 600mg night time dose with 16oz of water and ate a pita. I think also it could be the foods I'm eating are irritating my stomach which is already touchy from the Lithium. I tend to get acid reflux when I'm stressed, but the Lithium has really kicked it into gear. Are there any issues with taking an anti-acid product or something like prilosec to combat it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 +1 on the milk/snack. Generally just some toast or a bananananana is enough for me. I seem to recall reading something about antiacids lowering the amount of lithium absorbed, But a quick google shows that it has no change and should be fine. http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/6428800 http://www.nelm.nhs....ility-in-vitro/ They are both oldish case studies, but I wouldn't imagine it has any bearing on the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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